elmo_pimps wrote:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~stgvisie/VISIE/extremedeformities.html
Basically, what agent orange did to the children of veitnam and america, DU is doing to our generation of soilders and iraqi children. It's common name is gulf war syndrome.
please note there are some disturbing images
As far as the soldier side, we are aware of the hazards on the battlefield and what to do if encountered. DU is only dangerous if the armour is penitrated or from a vehicle that was destoyed by DU rounds. One of the major problems with the soldiers is, even know we are trained, we dont care or we blow off the training and forget to identify the hazards. ie. During OIF I one of my NCO's found a bag of white powder and instead of thinking of it as a possible hazard he thought it would be funny to pick it up and offer it to me as a bag of cocaine. I just backed away and mentioned to him that antrax is also white and in powder form. I will never forget the look on his face as he dropped the bag and ran off to go sanitize himself.
I dont know what was in the bag but my point is that NCO who is a leader of junior soldiers didnt have his head in the right game. I enjoy a good laugh and jokes but theres a time for it and on the battlefield is not the place.
Now I'm not saying that its all the soldiers fault, but when some vet crys about Uncle Sam screwing him with DU or some other hazard, did he do as he was trained or did he walk up to the burning tank and sniff the powder or smoke looking for war trophies?
As far as the Iraqi children I have seen their faces and looked into their eys and feel truly sorry for the hell they have to grow up with. But DU gives us that competitive edge on the battlefield and the pro's of DU greatly out weigh the con's when it comes to winning the war.
Well I'm off to Ireland you all have a good weekend.